Method and apparatus for making a smoking article

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method of constructing a smoking article using a retention member to provide a more tightly rolled smoking article and increase a volume of smoke of an ignited article. At least one or more sheets of material is provided and a retention member is positioned thereon. Next, the sheet of material is wrapped about the retention member and a portion of the sheet of material is sealed to form an inner wall. Filler material is then provided proximal to an outer surface of the inner wall whereby the filler material is distributed on both sides of the retention member. Opposite ends of the sheet material engage to then form an outer wall to enclose the tiller material between an inner surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the inner wall. The retention member is then removed to form an inner bore within the inner shell.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a smoking article, preferably a cigar, and methods of constructing the smoking article using a retention ember or apparatus which provides a more tightly rolled smoking article with increased airflow to increase burn time and volume of smoke inhaled by a user.

In recent years, smoking of smoking articles has trended upwardly, and numerous shops dedicated to rolling your own smoking article have become popular. Many manufactured smoking articles, such as cigars satisfy a current segment of the smoking population. However, many aficionados insist that nothing can compare with a custom rolled smoking article. These sophisticated individuals are methodical in the manner their smoking articles are rolled and the overall smoking experience.

A growing number of these aficionados prefer to roll their own smoking articles. The aficionados buy leaves or wrappings and use their preferred custom-blended fillers. In the United States, the roll-your-own market is increasing in its share of the smoking article market. This may be explained, in part, by the ability of an aficionado to create a unique smoking article, as opposed to the standard smoking articles that are manufactured today.

There are a number of problems with the existing methods of making unique and customized smoking articles. It takes many years of practice for a master cigar roller to perfect the art of rolling a smoking article. An aficionado, notwithstanding the enjoyment of the final product, has to be skillful in the rolling of smoking articles which take many trials and errors. As a result, inexperienced rollers often become frustrated when the finished smoking article collapses or does not perform to standards because the smoking article was not rolled properly.

Oftentimes, the smoking article will be rolled too tightly or too loosely. If a user can't draw air or smoke properly draw through the ignited cigar, then it is rolled too tightly. For example, it is generally known that if a cigar is rolled tighter, the longer it will burn for; however the tightness compresses the cigar's filling material, mainly tobacco, and restricts airflow thus resulting in smaller inhalations of the smoke from an ignited cigar. If a cigar is rolled loosely, it gill be easier to inhale large amounts of the ignited cigar; however, the cigar will burn more quickly due to the increased airflow. Since oxygen is required for combustion to occur, the more oxygen, the easier combustion can take place.

Therefore, it would be particularly desirable to provide a smoking article (i.e. cigar), a method for creating the smoking article, and an apparatus that facilitates the creation of the smoking article, which takes advantage of the desirable qualities in smoking article rolling—tightly rolled with an increased airflow of the ignited smoking article. Currently, there is no known methods, apparatus, or smoking articles in the prior art which provides all of these intended benefits.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention preserves the advantages of prior art methods and apparatus for making a smoking article. In addition, it provides new advantages not found in currently available methods and apparatus for making a smoking article and overcomes many disadvantages of such currently available methods and apparatus for making a smoking article.

The present invention is a method of constructing a smoking article using a retention member to provide a more tightly rolled smoking article and increase a volume of smoke of an ignited article. At least one sheet or more of material is provided and a retention member is positioned thereon. Next, the sheet of material is wrapped about the retention member and a portion of the sheet of material is sealed to form an inner wall. Filler material is then provided proximal to an outer surface of the inner wall whereby the fill material is distributed on both sides of the retention member. Opposite ends of the sheet material engage to then form an outer wall to enclose the filler material between an inner surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the inner wall. The retention member is then removed to form an inner bore within the inner shell.

The present invention also provides a smoking article which is tightly rolled while having an increased airflow. The smoking article includes one or more sheets of material and filler material. The sheet of material has a top and bottom surface and is configured to form an outer wall and an inner wall. The inner wall has an inner bore therein by using a tubular shaped retention member as described in the method above. The filler material is tightly enclosed between an outer surface of the inner wall and an inner surface of the outer wall to provide a tightly rolled smoking article with an increased airflow. The smoking article has the inner bore extending along the complete length of the smoking article. In operation, the user lights one end of the smoking article while inhaling from the other end to ignite the smoking article.

The present invention also includes a kit for making a smoking article as described in the method above. The kit includes at least one sheet of material and a retention member. In one embodiment, the sheet of material and retention member are constructed in advance and provided within the kit. The filler material may be also provided in the kit or provided separately by a user. The sheet of material has a top and bottom surface. The sheet of material configured to form an outer wall and an inner wall having an inner bore therein by using a tubular shaped retention member. The filler material is tightly enclosed between an outer surface of the inner wall and an inner surface of the outer wall. The retention member is configured to form said smoking article with the inner bore extending along the complete length of the smoking article.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method or apparatus for making a smoking article which provides a more tightly rolled smoking article with increased airflow.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide the smoking article which has an increased burn time.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide the smoking article which increases the volume of smoke available to be inhaled by a user.

Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the problems associated with current smoking articles.

Furthermore, another object of the present is to provide a customized smoking article that is rolled by an individual user.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features which are characteristic of the methods and apparatus for making a smoking article are set forth in the appended claims. However, the methods and apparatus for making a smoking article together with further embodiments and attendant advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a retention member and sheet of material of the present invention before assembly;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the retention member and the sheet of material of the present invention forming an inner wall;

FIG. 1C is a top perspective view of the retention member and the sheet of material of the present invention forming an inner wall;

FIG. 1D is a bottom perspective view of FIG. 1C with a filler material;

FIG. 1E is a perspective view of an assembled smoking article of the present invention forming an inner and outer wall along with a retention member therein;

FIG. 1F is a perspective view of the assembled smoking article of FIG. 1E without a retention member therein;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1C taken along line 2-2;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1F taken along line 3-3; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment having two sheets of material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1A-4, a method and apparatus of constructing the smoking article 40 is shown. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for constructing a more tightly rolled smoking article 40 with increased airflow to increase burn time and a volume of smoke inhaled by a user. The present invention is directed to the method of constructing the smoking article 40, the apparatus or retention member 10 used to construct the smoking article 40, and the smoking article 40 itself.

The present invention is a method of constructing a smoking article 40 using a retention member 10 to provide a more tightly rolled smoking article 40 and increase a volume of smoke of produced by an ignited article. Before the method of constructing the smoking article 40 is discussed, the retention member 10, at least one sheet or more of material 20, and the filler material 30 shall be explained and defined in more detail below.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the retention member 10 is a tubular shaped or cylindrically shaped apparatus which has sufficient rigidity to facilitate the configuration of the smoking article 40 of the present invention. The retention member 10 retains a shape of the smoking article 40 and defines an inner bore 42 within the smoking article 40 after it is removed which has a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the retention member 10. The retention member 10 has a length greater than or equal to the entire length of the smoking article 40 to provide the inner bore 42 through the entire length of the smoking article 40. The inner bore 42 that is created upon the removal of the retention member 10 from the rolled smoking article 40 allows for significantly less restricted air flow through the smoking article 40, thus resulting in consistent inhalations of the smoke or emissions from an ignited smoking article 40. The retention member 10, in one embodiment, can be made of any non-toxic rigid or semi-rigid material such as wood or wood related products, bamboo skewer material, metals, plastic and its many derivatives, and combinations thereof. It should be noted that the retention member 10 may have a shape other than tubular shaped and a material, other than listed above, which facilitate the construction of a smoking article 40 with an inner bore 42 extending completely therethrough.

Referring to FIG. 1B-1C, in one embodiment, the at least one sheet of material 20 includes a binder wrapper, a moistened tobacco leaf or reconstituted tobacco leaf, tobacco pulp made into paper, and a homogenized tobacco paper, or combinations thereof. Tobacco is merely an example of the type of leaf or paper and may include other types of plants. Alternatively, one or more sheets of material 20 may include one or more types of materials used in creating smoking articles other than tobacco or paper. For example, hemp products or other products may he used. The sheet of material 20 may include more than one sheet of material having a different composition. Referring to FIG. 4, for example, one sheet of material 20 may include a binder wrapper and another sheet of material 22 may be a tobacco leaf wrapped around the outside of the binder wrapper.

Referring to FIG. 1D, the filler material 30 is determined by the type and desired qualities of the smoking article. For example, a cigar is usually a bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves that are chopped up. Filler materials 30 of various strengths are usually blended to produce desired flavors. Many filler materials 30 can be either long or short. Longer filler material uses whole leaves and is of a better quality, while short filler material, also called “mixed, uses chopped leaves, stems, and other bits. Of course, this invention is directed to smoking articles 40 including cigars and other items which can be smoked so the filler material 30 will he adjusted accordingly.

The present invention includes a method of constructing a smoking article 40 using the retention member 10 explained above to provide a more tightly rolled smoking article 40 and increase a volume of smoke of an ignited article. Referring now to FIG. 1A and FIG. 2, the sheet of material 20 having a top surface and a bottom surface is provided and the retention member 10 is positioned thereon. In one embodiment, the retention member 10 is positioned on a central portion of the bottom surface and the retention member 10 has a length longer than the sheet of material 20. The retention member 10 is positioned on the sheet of material 20 along a direction A to provide the inner bore 42. Note, the sheet of material 20 may take the form of a square or rectangular shape, as illustrated, or be made of leaves or other materials which have a different or non-defined shape.

Next, referring to FIG. 1B-1C, the central portion of the sheet of material 20 is wrapped about an outer surface of the retention member 10 and a portion of the sheet of material 20 is sealed to form an inner wall. Referring to FIG. 1D, the filler material 30 is then provided proximal to an outer surface of the inner wall whereby the fill material is distributed on both sides of the retention member 10. Referring to FIG. 1E, opposite ends of the sheet material engage to then form an outer wall to enclose the filler material 30 between an inner surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the inner wall. Referring to FIG. 1F, the retention member 10 is then removed to form an inner bore 42 within the inner shell.

The present invention also provides the smoking article 40 which is tightly rolled while having an increased airflow. The smoking article 40 includes one or more sheets of material 20 and filler material 30. The sheet of material 20 has a top and bottom surface and is configured to form an outer wall and an inner wall. Referring to FIG. 3, the inner wall has an inner bore 42 therein by using a tubular shaped retention member 10 as described in the method above. The filler material 30 is tightly enclosed between an outer surface of the inner wall and an inner surface of the outer wall to provide a tightly rolled smoking article 40 with an increased airflow. The smoking article 40 has the inner bore 42 extending along the complete length of the smoking article 40. In operation, the user lights one end of the smoking article 40 while inhaling from the other end to ignite the smoking article 40.

The present invention also includes a kit for making a smoking article 40 as described in the method above. The kit includes at least one sheet of material 20 and a retention member 10. In one embodiment, the sheet of material 20 and retention member 10 are constructed in accordance with the invention of FIG. 1B and provided within the kit. The filler material 30 may be also provided in the kit or provided separately by a user. The sheet of material 20 has a top and bottom surface. The sheet of material 20 configured to form an outer wall and an inner wall having an inner bore 42 therein by using a tubular shaped retention member 10. The filler material 30 is tightly enclosed between an outer surface of the inner wall and an inner surface of the outer wall. The retention member 10 is configured to form the smoking article 40 with the inner bore 42 extending along the complete length of the smoking article 40.

In summary, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for making a smoking article 40 using the retention member 10 or apparatus which provides a more tightly rolled smoking article 40 with increased airflow to increase burn tune and volume of smoke inhaled by a user.

Therefore, while there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A method of constructing a smoking article, comprising the steps of: providing a sheet of material having a top and bottom surface; providing a tubular shaped retention member having a consistent diameter throughout and a length equal to or longer than said sheet of material; positioning an outer surface of said tubular shaped retention member said top surface of said center portion of said sheet of material; wrapping said center portion of said sheet o about said outer surface of said tubular shaped retention member; sealing said center po ion of said sheet of material about said outer surface of said tubular shaped retention member to form an inner wall; turning over said sheet of material and said tubular shaped retention member wherein said sheet of material has said bottom surface facing upwardly; providing filler material on said bottom surface of said sheet of material near outer surface of said inner wall; distributing evenly said filler material in equal amounts proximal to both sides of said tubular shaped retention member; rolling said tubular shaped retention member along said filler material to tightly compress said filler material; overlapping a first end of said sheet material on a second end of said sheet material to form an outer wall about said filler material and said retention member, an inner surface of said first end sealingly engaged with an outer surface of said second end; and removing completely said tubular shaped retention member to form an inner bore within the inner wall, whereby said smoking article is formed with said inner bore that extends completely from a proximal end to a distal end of the smoking article.
 2. A smoking article, comprising: a sheet of material having a top and bottom surface, said sheet of material configured to form an outer wall, and an inner wall have an inner bore therein by using a tubular shaped retention member; and a filler material tightly enclosed between an outer surface of the inner wall and an inner surface of the outer wall.
 3. A kit for making a smoking article, comprising: a sheet of material having a top and bottom surface, said sheet of material configured to form an outer wall, and an inner wall having an inner bore therein by using a tubular shaped retention member; and the tubular shaped retention member configured to form said smoking article with said inner bore extending along the complete length of the smoking article. 